Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the fifth time on Tuesday in connection with the National Herald money laundering case.
The Wayanad MP, on Monday, spent over 10 hours before the ED to record his statements. Beginning June 13, Gandhi has already spent over 40 hours in four visit to the ED headquarters in Delhi.
So far, Gandhi has denied having any knowledge of the transactions between the Young Indian (YI) and Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL). ED has alledged that YI, owned by Gandhis, took over AJL through alleged 'fraudulent' transactions.
Rahul Gandhi's mother and Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi, who was discharged from the hospital on Monday, has also been summoned by the federal agency for interrogation on Thursday.
Investigators in the ED, sources said, have asked Rahul Gandhi to describe the circumstances under which AJL was acquired by YIL in 2010, making it the owner of all assets owned by the National Herald newspaper.
The National Herald, started by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was published by the AJL. In 2010, the AJL, which faced financial difficulties, was taken over by a newly-floated YIL with Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda as directors, both of them Gandhi loyalists.
In a complaint in the Delhi High Court, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy accused Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul Gandhi, and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds.
